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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26621515">moult</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/absenthium/pseuds/absenthium'>absenthium</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Cobra Kai (Web Series)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Character Study, Mentions of Violence, Metamorphosis, don't do it at home kids, no corrections we die like men</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 06:22:13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>324</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26621515</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/absenthium/pseuds/absenthium</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>There’s a scar on his lip and there’s blood on his cheek and a smile in his eyes.<br/>Ink and feathers and bruises and sharp teeth.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>.<br/>Eli's tranformation into Hawk.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>moult</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>a history of bad men - melvins</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>moult</strong>
</p>
<p>VERB</p>
<p>
  <span class="ind">(of an animal) shed old feathers, hair, or skin to make way for a new growth.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>There’s a scar on his lip and there’s blood on his cheek and a smile in his eyes.</p>
<p>In the mirror, he recognizes himself. Ink and feathers and flashing blues and exhausted flesh.</p>
<p>His laugh is wild and uncontrollable, and so is the one of the boy behind the glass, as he screeches himself a new name.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>***</p>
<p> </p>
<p>First, he throws out the sweater. That old, ugly, pathetic piece of consumed wool he’s been wearing like a disgusting second skin since eight grade.</p>
<p>He tears it, holding it in one hand, an open pair of scissors in the other, like a sacrifice, like an offering.</p>
<p>When his mother finds it in the trash in the afternoon, he finds her concern amusing, and he’s too busy laughing about it to answer her questions.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Last thing he knows, the sink is blue and there’s a pungent smell of hairspray and pride.</p>
<p>For the first time, the scarred lip is not the first thing he notices, when his reflection smiles back.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>***</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He learns how to fight and learns he likes it.</p>
<p>He’s taught how to hurt and likes that, too.</p>
<p>He strikes and hits and kicks and screams and feels alive, more than he’s ever felt.</p>
<p>It’s the first breath of a bloody animal, like he’s just come to life, waiting for a second breath, covered in the blood of a merciless mother.</p>
<p>Creature of woe, prey, predator, prey again.</p>
<p>He thinks of Eli and feels free. Brave, too. Strong.</p>
<p>Because Eli was a pussy, <em>weak</em>.</p>
<p>A sacrifice. An offering.</p>
<p>He’s<em> alive</em>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>***</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There’s a scar on his lip and there’s blood on his cheek and black around his eye.</p>
<p>Ink and feathers and bruises and sharp teeth over a new skin.</p>
<p>There’s a smile in his eyes, and the feeling of cold metal laying against his chest, under his shirt.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Man, I finished this show just today and I honestly got a lot more invested in it that I tought I would. Hawk was a very interesting character to me, and I definitely had to write about him. And I have many more ideas for this. Shit's gonna get serious, I guess. And angsty, 'cause that's what I do.<br/>I also should probably go to sleep.<br/>Hope you liked it.<br/>E.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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